Mental Health Impact of Migraines

You’ve probably experienced a headache more than once in your life. Even when short-lived, headaches really affect your day. But migraines are much more than a run-of-the-mill headache. Migraines often cause severe pain, along with debilitating symptoms. 

Without the proper treatment and care, migraines have the ability to affect both your physical and mental health.

At Integrated Body and Medicine, our team is ready to get you the relief you’ve been searching for when you suffer from migraines. 

We’re experts in figuring out what’s triggering your migraines, so you get a personalized care plan to get your pain under control and your mental health back on track.

What are migraines?

Migraines are a neurological disorder characterized by intense and debilitating pain in your head. This condition is more serious than a typical headache. Migraines also cause other symptoms.

The pain of a migraine often affects only one side of your head. The symptoms can last for a few hours or can go on for days at a time. 

The causes of migraines vary and aren’t completely understood. But we know that genetics plays a role in migraines, along with environmental factors. The triggers of migraines, include:

• Stress
• Changes in weather
• Food additives
• Caffeine
• Alcohol
• Hormone changes

All of these triggers can bring a migraine on, but vary from person to person. Finding your triggers helps you keep your migraines at bay. 

Migraines may go through four different stages when they strike. These stages are prodrome, aura, attack, and post-drome. The prodrome and aura happen before the migraine attack, and the post-drome is the aftereffects of it.

The draining symptoms of migraines

Typically, the main symptom you experience with a migraine is a pounding headache that’s often severe. But migraine pain is also described as throbbing, aching, and pulsating. The pain can affect one side of your head or bounce back and forth.

Pain is only one of the symptoms of a migraine attack. Other signs and symptoms that you may experience include:

• Light and noise sensitivity
• Nausea or vomiting
• Dizziness
• Blurred vision
• Sweating or chills
• Loss of appetite
• Fatigue

The symptoms of migraines often correlate to the phase of the migraine that’s occurring. This means that you could experience a variety of different symptoms during the duration of the migraine attack.

Not only are these symptoms draining on your physical health, but they also take a toll on your mental well-being. This is especially true when you suffer from migraines that come on frequently.

Do migraines affect your mental health?

Migraines most certainly affect your mental health. If you suffer from migraines regularly, you’re at a higher risk of developing depression or anxiety from the condition.

Suffering from migraines makes it five times more likely that you’ll have a mental health problem than people who don’t have migraines. Depression and anxiety are at the forefront of these mental health issues, but other problems can arise as well.

Depression from chronic migraines truly affects your overall quality of life. The constant pain from your condition can weigh heavily on your mind, especially when you have trouble finding a treatment that works.

Anxiety may come on, too. You may constantly worry and stress about when the next migraine will hit. This affects your daily life, because you’re in a state of constant worry and fear of the next episode. 

But there’s light at the end of the tunnel. We help you understand migraines so you can find a solution that fits your symptoms. We take a conservative approach and help you make lifestyle changes to manage your migraines, as well as depression and anxiety.

When you need expert care for your chronic migraines, don’t hesitate to call our office or schedule an appointment through our online system today. We serve the greater Highland and Hammond, Indiana, area.